*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

I love the Acronis program to do my images and backups. I have the 2nd HDD so I do a complete image so that if my main drive fails I just swap them and have the same system running again. In case of catastrophic failure I also have a image stored on the NAS drive.

 

thanks orion...that is the software i'm leaning towards. have you ever had to recover any files and how was it?

also, second day of having my western digital 1tb external harddrive...wouldn't power up today. So i'm back in the market for a new external drive as wel. I don't want to stick with that type, i've heard other people saying how quickly they wear out. Any suggestions on that?

thanks

 

WD makes the best HD imo, got an external drive for 2+ years and some internal drives for 10+ years and never got any issues.

Only for today there is this HD copy tool for free, never tried it but its worth a try probably.
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/paragon-drive-copy-90-personal/

 

I don't use the "antenna" that came with the units with TV tuners in them; I went to Radio Shack and got a powered antenna for about 10 bucks that works just fine for pulling in all channels, including the HD channels.

 

I use Norton Ghost to create a backup image to my 2nd internal hdd. I can recover everything by restoring from the 2nd drive without swapping drives. I copy the backup image file to another external drive just in case. Anything from the entire hard drive to a single file can be restored.

 

Hi!

A total newbie to laptops but not to computers Got my HDX18 today morn and boy am I loving it! Just got a few questions which I need to ask ya guys..

(1) Would it be ok if I were to update the GT130 drivers with drivers other than what HP provides? would it cause any incompatibility issue with any of their existing software etc?

(2) Sound is not upto my expectations. I have managed to increase the sound via the equalizer but I feel that is not the optimum method of improving sound quality. Any ideas on what should be done?

(3) Any recommendations for a good piece of cloth etc. to wipe away the smudges n keep this baby looking brand new? This thing is a fingerprint magnet! Preferable something which could be ordered online and has worldwide shipping

(4) Question about the battery. What would be the most efficient way of having the battery lasting the longest? Is it by having the AC adapter constantly attached to the laptop or letting the battery drain and then recharging and using it once again?

Loads of things getting used to on this machine mind you hehe.. didnt try out any games. Didnt come across any specific heat issue with quad core as i read in the earlier threads so i d say i have been on the lucky side

Thanks in advance!
Zz

 

Regarding question #3, I use microfiber cloths for wiping away simple fingerprints, and add aerosol glass cleaner when I need to do a good cleaning. Not sure where you live, but I buy both at Costco, here in the US.

The microfiber clothes will not ever scratch. I don't reuse them on computers once I've washed them...I always start with a new one and use it until it is visibly and/or uniformly dirty.

Aerosol glass cleaner is best because there is no ammonia and you are able to somewhat control the fine mist, compared to a trigger glass cleaner which winds up running down your LCD screen!

I've use this to clean practically everything electronic and all the computers in my business.

 

1) I use the drivers from nvidia.com, just select the correct videocard, you won't have any problem.

2)Increasing the sound increasing all the bands of the equalizer is the worst thing you can do quality-wise. Remember this is a notebook, if you need more power link some external speakers. I have to say that the sound is in the average power-wise, quality-wise the notebook is a above the average.

3)I always use one of those cloth that come out when you buy a pair of glasses, when i bought my samsung monitor it came out with a really similar cloth.

4)Long time ago the battery used to be regenerated by a full charge/discharge cicle. Today the lion batteries don't need this, and sometimes it can be worst to do it. The best thing should be to leave the battery at around 30%-40% charge (low state of charge) in a cold place with no sun, and use the AC adapter when at home, using the battery while on-the-go (if you are really able to use this giant on-the-go). The real enemy of these batteries is high temperature, that's why they can take damage from being into the notebook while used, they tend to reach quite a high temperature, some crazy ppl use to store the batteries in the refrigerator, but its very very risky, the humidity stored in the refrigerator can enter and damage your battery.
Personally I always leave the battery in the notebook, these batteries got a normal life cicle and you will see them decreasing in performance as time goes on, with good care you can let them leave some more months, maybe a year, but usually you can safely keep one of these batteries for 2-3 year, then just replace it.

edited: changed the state of charge cause it was wrong.

 

I live in Sri Lanka. Chances of getting some quality microfibre cloth is quite slim over here which was why I prefer online purchase which ship worldwide.

What would be your take on using lil bit of surgical spirit for the cleaning? would it harm the plastic as such. Aerosol glass cleaner? Gotta do some hunting for that over here.

 

Are there not modded drivers which would supposedly improve graphics performance for the GT130? Not that I am willing to take the plunge n go through the troubleshooting agony but I was wondering whether anybody had in fact used modded drivers and experienced any performance increments. Thanks for your info though bro, had the impression that HP might have customized the drivers for their laptops.

I have external speakers but was somewhat expecting a bit more as it seemed to be a fully fledged laptop with everything you could dream of, well kinda. which was kind of why i was irritated at first.

The battery not being able to handle heat is a small problem as SL is a tropical country with temperatures ranging from 27 to 33 degree celcius. I was hoping on getting a backup battery too but unfortunately $$$ didnt flow outta the wallet as smooth as I had hoped. I read on another site however that the current li-ion batteries still work more efficiently after being completely discharged n then recharged. But since temperature is of vital importance I guess i should look into other avenues to conserve the longevity of the battery..

Zz

 

Go to http://laptopvideo2go.com/ for drivers.

 

HDX18 Owners-Can you please reply to my question? Thanks.

I'm considering buying a HDX18t

 

Well....I guess I'll answer my own question - since NO ONE else did.... - NO you CANNOT have the HDX18t screen work while TWO monitors are attached to it.

Steve

 

Personally i dont put much effort in conserving the battery, it will lose charge with time, you can do something to make it slower, but really it will lose charge anyway. Just use it as best is it for your notebook (if you dont have a UPS keep it in or the pc will turn off with power cut (buy a UPS)).

Some years ago i really searched everywhere to an answer to the question "is it better to leave the battery plugged or not?". I found this article (forum answer) that you should read.

It says 2 things above all. The battery will lose charge with cycling and time. The old batteries were the batteries that worked best after a full discharge (called regeneration), that was cause they used to create separate blocks of charge (so charged block, uncharged block, charged block....) when not fully discharged. Lion battery don't have this problem.

----------
I don't normally contribute, but I happen to know quite a bit about Lithium batteries, since my job requires it - including caring for them properly so they last 15 years or more (yes, that is 15 years, think Geostationary satellites).

There are two basic degradation mechanisms is Lithium cells. One is from cycling effects and caused by a physical breakdown of the structure that holds the active material in place. Essentially, the Lithium becomes isolated in little islands that are electrically separate from the cell. This affects capacity, and only increases the internal resistance significantly in the case of severe capacity loss.

The second mechanism is a chemical reaction that causes the a similar effect, capacity loss, but by entirely different causes. In this case, the material that the Li+ ion bonds with will over time react with another cell constituent to create a stable compound. Unfortunately, this also takes place at the reaction interface and is non-conductive, so not only is capacity lost, but cell internal resistance increases.

The cycling loss is proportional to the square root of the number of full cycles, or full cycle equivalents, and is worsened by cycles to high states of charge. (Lithium cells, unlike NiMH or NiCd have considerable extra capacity that is largely unused, but accessible by increasing the end of charge voltage. When your computer says you are 100% charged, it is 100% of what Apple has decided to use as its full charge state. There is significant additional capacity that could be had at the cost of lifetime.) It is also worsened by cycling at low temperatures, 10C or less, so that is pretty irrelevant here. Other than that, cycling effects are not affected by temperature.

The second loss, which is usually called calendar loss, because it happens just by sitting around, is a chemical reaction that follows arrhenius law. That means it is highly dependent on temperature, with the rate changing by orders of magnitude over temperatures that would typically be experienced. In fact, accelerated life testing is made possible by the known relationship between temperature and calendar loss.

It turns out that calendar loss is also affected by the state of charge at which the cell is kept, with higher (more charged) being worse.

Unlike other types of batteries, Lithium cells do not mind sitting idle for long periods of time. Their self-discharge is essentially zero, and if they seem to behave otherwise, it is due to the monitoring chips co-packaged with commercial cell packs.


The short of it is this - keeping your battery plugged in, fully charged, and hot like it is in your laptop is about the worst thing you can do for life. On the other hand, doing better by the batteries is such a pain, that there is no real reason to do so. I recommend doing what was outlined by someone above. Use your battery until its capacity is inadequate, and then by a second. Keep the old one in the computer and the new one at a low state of charge (20%< SOC <50%) in a cool place. Don't put it in the freezer, but the refrigerator is perfect as long as you make sure you warm it up and keep it free from condensation when you use it. A desk drawer is fine too, compared to the temperatures it would be seeing in your laptop.

I do hope this helps folks. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.
-------------------

 

Thanks for your detailed reply bro. Seems like I am helpless towards what is to happen and must let karma decide

@ peter0328 - thanks for the link bro!

Zz

 

You can get either a really clear, seemingly liquid screen, that will reflect in direct sunlight or bright interior lights, or you can get a hazy, seemingly "grayed" screen that is resistant to reflection. You can't get both. it's a trade off.

Not that you would be able to have a triple multiple functioning monitor, no, but if you just want a multiple of the same image, you could split the signal coming out of the HDX, and then have 3 displays, I don't know what you were needing.

 

this might help 3 monitors , http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/
or 2

 

this may help 3 monitors http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

 

this may help 3 monitors http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

 

this might help 3 monitors http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

 

this might help 3 monitors
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

 

yeah, matrox has always made some decent stuff, but the problem is that when you are stretching with an outboard box, it's a gratuitous reduction in quality, since you are halving the quality of the original output image. so movies look 1/2 as good right away for instance, even if you watch the whole movie on one screen. but yeah, it works, like I say it's all about what ziggy needs the extra screen for.

 

Hi all,

I was hoping with 548 pages of comments there would be some good experience here to help me with 2 issues i have with my new HDX 18 laptop.

The first problem is with regards to internet. I have a problem whereby my lapton connects to my router via the inbuilt wireless adaptor but then after 5 mins or so it drops off the network. I have to remove the wireless set up and connect to the router again from new. It works again for about 5 mins then drops off again. This is when it is in use so i dont think the adaptor is going in to sleep mode.

My second issue is with the tv. I have the little black aerial that came with the laptop but i cant get the laptop to recieve any channels using this. Has anyone had this problem that could give me a bit of advice?

Many thanks in advance
Neil

 

1st) Do you have any other device connecter through wifi? do they disconnect too? First thing i can think of is try to change the channel, or you are too far fromt he router, how is the signal power? .

2st) The thing coming with the notebook is really poor, channels quantity/quality depends entirely from your location, try to move outdoor and search for channels again.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your response. I currently have PS3, Wii, Desktop and Laptop (both running XP whereas the HDZ is Vista) and 2 iphones all connect with no problems. It is an N1 router with ample signal strength in that the problem occurs even when i am sitting next to the router.

I am in a poor reception area so that is probably the issue with the TV adaptor. Are the USB ones you can get in PC World better i.e. WinTV etc?

Thanks

 

I have tried some pinnacle usb tv tuner sticks and they are quite all the same.
It seems that is the antenna that sux big time, cause if linked to a normal external antenna (the big one), they dont work that bad.

 

i have the triblehead2go as for image quality i see no difference when playing games on 2 dell 24" monitors with a Dell 30" 3008 wfp widescreen all connected to a matrox triblehead2go digital box

 

The point I am making, is that the device is a splitter. It does it very well, but it is only going to halve or split 3 ways the original source. This means the "high def" setting on the triple is 3840 X 1024, and this is fine for desktop viewing, but gaming at this rate has GOT to warm up the machine significantly, as it's basically between a doubling and tripling of the math involved. When I game, and I haven't in a while, but spent many weeks straight defiling combine and terrorists alike, I was maxing out my settings on 1 screen and noticing a difference, as the frame rate dropped with each increase in quality (pretty much). Some games as it is are barely playable on the HDX, let alone trying a triple widescreen view.

Now I am not arguing with you. No way. I would love a triple screen setup, I just wanted to make the points that
1. no outboard device will increase the resolution output of the GPU
2. the image is based on splitting
3. you will be tasking the machine, possibly quite a bit, to function with 3 screens.

I am curious what games you were running with the 3 monitors, and were they all 3 running the game or just the 2. What were the settings. Possibly a pic?

 

This might have been asked numerous time, but search has been disabled in this forum. Just wanted to know what speed memory the 130m uses, cant find anything on their data pages :/

 

HI,
My hdx18 just arrived. I love it , i ordered one with quad core processor and with ddr3 graphic card..... but i got one problem. I also ordered backlit keyboard but i can not figure how to turn it on. I pressed FN key together with space bar but nothing. Did anyone had the same problem? and yes it is hdx with backlit cause it has that mark on space bar, but i can not turn it on. What is the problem? maybe fn key is not functioning or i do something wrong? Please help.... thank you.

 

HDX runs this card with DDR3 so you "should" be running at 800MHZ effective. But that's what I'm told no 130m for me.... tell me if I'm right.

You can verify with GPU-Z

Screenshot (of different GPU)

 

Darn I'm having sooo many problems... I guess I spoke too soon when I posted Wednesday.

Internet access is sketchy. Just plain won't stay connected. I did some research and found lots of people complaining of the same but haven't happened to find a reason for it. I wish this was my only problem, but there is some definite issues going on with mine, in fact I've probably only kept it on 2 hours in the 2 days I've had it.

(Posted on HP site but haven't had any luck)
Within minutes of starting up there was this strange streak across the screen... Like some sort of digital mess with lines (Reminds me of a big puddle of paint minus the roundness, if that makes sense.) I started getting the "blue screens." I figured I may have just needed some updates as Windows Update started going crazy telling me I had tons of things to update. After doing all those (and lots of blue screens in between) I am still getting the "blue screen."

The only programs I have added myself are Microsoft Office/Student 2007, AVG (After removing Norton) and Firefox. I think the last "blue screen" I got minutes ago said: IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL. There have been many other different types of errors but I don't remember them all. The HP Media program keeps crashing. I can't stay logged onto firefox or windows IE because they constantly crash. My new Microsoft Office won't even work without crashing.

Besides the obvious (calling HP support) where can I start? Is this common for new computers, possibly because drivers need to be updated? I think I found where the errors are being logged (Control Panel/Admin/Event Viewer) but that took ages to find and I am not sure what any of it means. Should I go back to a "restore point" from yesterday when I received it? I'm not sure what good that would do because I've hardly done anything on it. I guess I want to try to determine what is causing it and if there is anything I can update before calling HP. I understand you may need more info but I'm not sure how to give that to you without detailed instructions.

Since I wrote this last night, here's an update:

Finally I did a complete restore, from when it was in factory. It's still crashing really bad. I am also getting a loud "crackle" sound when it goes to the blue screen. When I go into the event viewer there are so many errors which surprises me because I've yet to really do much of anything on it. I only managed to get through two updates from windows. I hadn't installed ANYTHING else on it yet, no firefox, no MS office, no AVG, nothing.

Guess I have to call HP but was hoping someone would have some ideas. I'm really doing my best to try and "learn" all this stuff by reading and googling. I finally found the Task Viewer and also found the minidump files in C: so I am making progress. If anyone has advice it would be much appreciated!! I'm just super bummed because I was so excited to get this and now I find myself back to using the old dell.

 

No that's not right. I can't relate to anything you are talking about. From the factory, or restored to "from the factory" should be a fully operational, trouble free (albeit bloated with extra nonsense) experience.

Very sorry you are not having a good time.

The only thing I can think of is the Video driver. That's the only single thing that I can think of that would do what you are describing. It's the newest member to the HDX team (your 130m GPU). Have you tried the 185.85 driver from NVIDIA's site?

 

Thanks so much for replying. I went to the NVIDIA site and there are so many I fear I will mess something up by choosing one.
Product Type: GeForce?
Product Series: ?
Product: ?
Not sure where the 185.85 is that you mentioned.
Once I figure out the correct one all I do is download it?
Forgive me for being a pain, I don't know much and hardly understand what a "driver" is.

 

the max resolution with my matrox triplehead2go with the 3 monitors i have is 1680X1050 with the nvidia geforce 9600m gt with 512mb ddr2 with matrox power desk software version 2.04 most games are not set to max but are set to a relative middle settings and no nvidia PhysX as the HP drivers do not have , crysis works fine sometimes studders thats the most hardware demanding game i have .

 

A driver is just a bit of software that makes your hardware (in this case the video card) work with your computer. I can't say for sure, as I'm still waiting for my HDX, but from having a quick look on the nvidia site it doesnt seem as easy as it could to find the correct driver. You need to make sure you download the correct version for the operating system you have (I assume you have Vista 64-bit as thats what comes as default). The version 185.85 I saw was for Windows7...I did see a Beta v179.48 for vista64..maybe someone can post a definitive answer & link for you. Either way, check the gt130m is listed in the supported device list before you download and installation should be self explanatory.

 

Is there anyone out there who knows whether the "JanSport Boost 37L Laptop Backpack" fits the x18? Thanks.

 

I have a question for all you bright Vista users out there. I somehow lost my system tray (notification) icon for network connectivity/activity. I know where it was in XP but I can not find it in Vista. Anybody have this answer? Many thanks in advance.

 

Geforce
Product series 100m (m for mobile)
130m

Drivers are the bridge from hardware to software.

The laptop by itself is the hardware.
It takes input from you and does millions of calculations to produce (primarily) video and audio output.
The OS, or operating system is the primary program on your machine, and all calculations used are run through it.
Drivers are codes used to interpret from the hardware parts of your machine, to the operating system.
All the programs you install on your machine - firefox, word, media player, etc, are written to function within the parameters of your particular OS.

Having a new piece of hardware, like the HDX, like the 130m card means the drivers more than likely are not yet perfected. Even still, as new video formats are released (each one trying to get you a prettier picture and do it quicker and better) video drivers need to be updated anyway. As a rule, if it's working fine, leave it alone. You just aren't yet, "fine".

Please goto the hp support page for your model hdx18 and download the video driver, audio driver, and bios update.

BIOS by the way, is a very small program that stays built into your hardware, when you turn on your machine, it comes alive, takes basically a roll call of all equipment you have connected, does a little self test, and if everything is ok, it then turns over control to the designated hard drive, where if installed, the OS begins and voila, you are up.

DO NOT load any windows updates, yet.

Try the 3 downloads and let us know if there is any improvement.

 

I haven't looked back far enough, but if you're still within your return period (assuming you bought it from HP), consider returning it and ordering another. As long as you're within 21 days from the date that it was delivered to you, HP is very good about giving you a complete and fast refund. Instead of doing an exchange, I would return and order fresh unless you got a good discount on the original that you want to preserve. If the suggestions of other members don't help, and you can return it, I think that would be better than sending your current model in for a potential repair headache.

 

The [fn] + [spacebar] turns the backlight on and off.

 

this must be a annoying question, but what backpack should i go with for the hdx18? I want to be able to carry 1-2 books for class as well.

thanks guys...it is appreciated

 

I use this with my HDX18t



its even better then you connect your laptop to HD 58" TV vai HDMI and navigate with this small keyboard from your bed.

 

So.... then my backlight keyboard does not work Could be some other reason? drivers? Or i will have to return it to HP?
Thank you!

 

Return to HP most likely. I don't think the backlight is controlled by drivers.

 

We purchased it through the company, so greatful we didn't get screwed with the full price. Canadian prices in general are just something to laugh at. If this was a personal purchase out of my wallet, I surely would have got someone to ship it out to me here in Canada. Thanks to guys like you to give others another option of doing things like this. I will be calling HP support to see if I can get a replacement based on manufacturer's defect if their warranty covers it.

 

Just recently, on a bright sunny day, I couldn't see a thing on the screen. Just a note if you are planning on purchasing this laptop and will be doing some of your tasks outside. The screen is very reflective and you will most likely not be comfortable using it on a sunny day.

 

NOT A OUTSIDE LAPTOP, but neither is any laptop that does not have a "glare resistant" screen. Sorry, wall-e just isn't as clear to me on the glare resistant type screen.

 

Down on my signature, click on "the complete hdx18 guide" there is a rudimentary list of cases that we use.

 

Right, got the blackberry for that. I might be purchasing a mini netbook towards the end of the year for being out in the field. Any recommendations?